Review: Vtech Thomas Busy Book vs Little Touch LeapPad

When Gavin was born, hubby and I bought him a Little Touch LeapPad talking book. Although it was far too advanced for him, I figured he would enjoy it when he got older. Little did I realise back then that he was going to develop such an affinity for Thomas the Tank Engine that I should have bought this instead:

They both function similarly – they have an outer casing and a slot to attach the book. Once attached, the casing detects special features about the book so that when you touch specific spots on the pages, the reader will make the relevant commentary.

The Vtech Thomas Teach and Touch Busy Book costs RM240 and comes with three interchangeable Thomas book titles covering the topics of letters, words, shapes and colours. The Little Touch LeapPad costs RM200 but it only comes with one book title. Additional titles costs RM60 each. Although the Vtech option seems more economical, the flexibility of the Little Touch LeapPad is the range of titles available for purchase, whereas the Vtech Teach and Touch Busy Book is specifically for these three Thomas titles.

At RM240, I thought the Vtech was fairly reasonably priced since I’ve seen Thomas and Friends board books that teach toddlers about shapes, colours, words that cost RM45 at Kinokuniya.

The Little Touch LeapPad offers a recommended age of 6 months onwards, which I think is rather optimistic. The Vtech Thomas Teach and Touch Busy Book is recommended for ages 3-6, so I guess I still have time to get it for Gavin at a later date.

About the author

Dr Shen-Li Lee is a freelance writer and mum to two boys who have been the inspiration for her ongoing study in child development and education. She searches for the balance in child development methods and educational philosophies that will encourage the nurture of happy, confident and successful children. She shares her views and findings at Figur8.

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About the Author

Dr Shen-Li Lee is a freelance writer and mum to two boys who have been the inspiration for her ongoing study in child development and education. She searches for the balance in child development methods and educational philosophies that will encourage the nurture of happy, confident and successful children. She shares her views and findings at Figur8.